Livestock facility equipment network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A livestock facility equipment network, comprising:
- a data communications network;
a plurality of monitoring components, each associated with at least one monitored livestock facility device, operatively coupled to said data communications network, said monitoring components each configured to generate data associated with at least one of said monitored livestock facility devices for communication over said data communications network;
a control component operatively coupled to said data communications network, said control component configured to receive data associated with each of said monitored livestock facility devices over said data communications network, and to utilize said received data to generate at least one indication of a status of a livestock facility incorporating said plurality of monitored livestock facility devices.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An expandable livestock facility equipment network over which data is received from various automated pieces of equipment or monitors, and utilized by a control unit to provide an overall indication of the status of the livestock facility, including feed supply management, animal health conditions, and equipment operational conditions.
59 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A livestock facility equipment network, comprising:
-
a data communications network;
a plurality of monitoring components, each associated with at least one monitored livestock facility device, operatively coupled to said data communications network, said monitoring components each configured to generate data associated with at least one of said monitored livestock facility devices for communication over said data communications network;
a control component operatively coupled to said data communications network, said control component configured to receive data associated with each of said monitored livestock facility devices over said data communications network, and to utilize said received data to generate at least one indication of a status of a livestock facility incorporating said plurality of monitored livestock facility devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
12. A method for monitoring animal health in a livestock facility having at least one feed delivery system including a plurality of monitoring devices, comprising:
-
acquiring feed delivery data from the plurality of monitoring devices associated with the at least one feed delivery system;
communicating said acquired feed delivery data to a control system;
comparing, at said control system, said acquired feed delivery data with one or more predetermined parameters associated with animal health; and
providing an animal health status associated with said comparison of acquired feed delivery data and said predetermined parameters. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
-
-
15. A livestock facility equipment monitoring system for monitoring equipment in a livestock facility including a plurality of feed storage silos interconnected with an auger driven feed delivery mechanism, comprising:
-
at least one load sensor associated with each feed storage silo, each of said at least one load sensors configured to provide a signal corresponding to an amount of feed stored within said associated feed storage silo;
at least one activation sensor associated with the auger driven feed delivery mechanism, said activation sensor configured to provide a signal corresponding to an operational state of the auger driven feed delivery system;
a control component operatively coupled to each of said load sensors and said at least one activation sensor to receive said feed storage signals and said feed delivery mechanism operational state signal; and
wherein said control component is configured to utilize said received signals to monitor at least one predetermined parameter associated with the livestock facility. - View Dependent Claims (18, 21)
-
Specification